Eric Reid files collusion grievance against NFL

The two men who were at the forefront of the anthem protests now each have collusion grievances against the NFL.

Free-agent safety Eric Reid has filed a collusion grievance, seven weeks to the day after becoming a free agent.

Said the NFL Players Association in announcing the grievance: “Our union is aware that Eric Reid and his legal representatives filed a collusion claim, which will be heard through the arbitration process as spelled out in our Collective Bargaining Agreement. Our union supports Eric and we are considering other legal options to pursue.”

The development isn’t a surprise. And Reid’s argument will be similar if not identical to the argument previously made by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Put simply, they’ll both contend that the NFL’s teams adopted a coordinated approach to the shunning of players who were deemed to be “bad for business” because of their role in the anthem protests.

Some believe it’s perfectly legitimate to reject players who have protested in the past or who may protest in the future. This overlooks the reality that the NFL has given players the right to protest, that the NFL confirmed the existence of the right to protest after the phenomenon emerged in 2016, and that the NFL reiterated the existence of the right after President Trump’s comments made the issue a major national subject of debate in 2017.

But even if it’s permissible to shun players for exercising rights given to them by the NFL, it’s not permissible for teams to coordinate when it comes to deciding whether to hire or not hire players. It’s not permissible for teams to coordinate as to any employment issue.

Reid’s free-agency experience consisted of a visit to the Bengals. As PFT reported at the time, owner Mike Brown sought a commitment from Reid that he wouldn’t protest during the anthem, but Reid declined to provide one. Reid thereafter did not receive an offer.

The fact that Reid’s grievance follows Kaepernick’s means that Reid will have access to the same evidence generated in Kaepernick’s case, especially since both men are represented by Mark Geragos. Now that the group of players using the legal process to push back against the NFL’s position has doubled, it’s impossible to rule out other players who believed that they are being damaged as part of a coordinated effort by the league to shun them doing the same.

Would it be ok for a team to deem a player “bad for business” if they committed a crime? Was accused of domestic violence? Spouted hate speech? Aligned with a socially or politically reprehensible hate group? Etc.
I’m assuming NFL teams would be within their rights then….right?
Why is this different?

I think Reid has a better case than Kaepernick. Yeah, the market for Free Agent safeties hasn’t been good this year, but he at least has talent. It’s understandable why teams wouldn’t want to sign someone who could end up as the third string QB, but Reid could definitely start somewhere.

Ya, he’s really good actually. Played well when he wasn’t injured last season and is young. The safety market is kind of intriguing right now, but he has a case since he’s been asked so many questions about kneeling by teams.

Players have the “right” to be locker room cancers, too, yet NFL teams have a long history of shunning those players as well once their skills don’t make up for their negative impact in a locker room. Isn’t Dez Bryant three weeks into free agency right now? Maybe he should file a collusion lawsuit.

OMG stupid move Reid.
If I were your brother, who was just drafted, I’d do/say whatever I had to distance myself from you and your stupid ideology.
Go ahead and exhaust your earnings by paying lawyers to fight a losing collusion case.
Guess what Eric (and Krap)…the NFL has BETTER lawyers.
[in Ivan Drago’s voice]…you will lose.

Can’t blame this on football matters, he was a top-tier safety. Kap’s case keeps getting stronger, especially after the tapes leaked were owners worried about political retribution for employing players involved

Black balled…wont be the first or last time it has happened in sports…Georgetown or Harvard Law School will take him though…go fight the system the way real power brokers do and fracture the paradigm even more profoundly…leave this game to the sheep and fight another way

Not really no. There is no supremacy clause in the CBA. If it not written that a player has a right, then they dont have that right. If you want to act like an ass, then teams have the right as defined under actual law not to hire you.

Owners/GM’s have the right to sign or not sign whatever type of player they desire. Whether a guy is perpetually hurt, suspended, sucks or is a pain in the a$$ it doesn’t matter… they’re not the type of player teams look for. The NFL screwed-themselves by not initially taking a different stance and now must fend-off lawsuits by whatever malcontents choose to hit them.

You’re right Mike, the NFL has given these guys the right to protest. But they never gave them a right to a contract. Now Reid can be a martyr like his buddy Colon and be poster boys for young players that are thinking about going down the “social justice” road.

These idiots don’t have a clue what collusion is.
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Don’t associate these 2 anti Americans with the Niners or their fan base. Niners fans are embarrassed they played for us when they took a knee. We feel the same way you do about them, most of us. They are getting exactly what they deserve. I hope neither one of them plays in the NFL again.
Don’t

The NFL may have given the right to the players to protest, but that doesn’t mean a team can’t assess how that dynamic would play in their locker room or fan base. It’s akin to the typical Freedom of Speech arguments. Some believe that Freedom of Speech means you can say whatever you want without consequence; when what it means is saying what you want without fear of imprisonment from the government. So for example, the Dixie Chicks can say whatever they want without fear from reprisal from our government, but radio stations and fans can decide whether they want to support them in the wake of those words.
Same thing here. Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid can protest and say what they want without the NFL suspending or fining them, however, a particular team can decide for themselves whether they want to risk dividing their locker room or upsetting their fan base by signing them.
Not sure why this is so hard to grasp.

I have a company car and I am not allowed to put any bumper stickers of any kind on the car. My freedom of speech is not being violated becaue I want my job and must abide by the rules set forth by my employer. If I don’t like it I can find another job.

Bad choice. He should have let the offseason play out. Once teams get into camp and see where their gaps are is when slots emerge for guys like him. But not before, it would be unrealistic to think otherwise, and downright stupid to burn all your bridges just because otherwise didn’t happen yet.

I would have bought into the collusion theory had the season started without him on a team because he does have pretty decent skills. But now with a lawsuit on the table I am sure he wont be signed, and I think its the lawsuit itself that will be the entire reason.

youngnoizecom says:
May 2, 2018 at 10:45 am
Ya, he’s really good actually. Played well when he wasn’t injured last season and is young. The safety market is kind of intriguing right now, but he has a case since he’s been asked so many questions about kneeling by teams.
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Um, stat-wise he had one of the worst years of his career. He lost his starting job, was converted to a hybrid linebacker because they didnt know what to do with him, put him back to safety and he kept getting torched. He runs poor angles. He hits hard, that’s about it. He has no case at all. He wants starter money, when he is not a starter. Sounds a lot like Kaep, huh? Hmm.

The difference between the two is that Reid can actually play at an acceptable level. The problem with collusion claims is that there has to be some measure of proof. If 32 billionaires all have a similar process, where they weigh risk vs. reward, how could you call it collusion if they all view Reid and Kap as too risky for their liking? They don’t have to talk to each other, they just have to apply their risk models to the potential signing and decide not to offer them. That’s not collusion, that’s business analytics. In most cases, teams will sign anyone who can help them win, which brings them more money. Browns just drafted a kid who was suspended for credit card fraud, Raiders drafted Arden Key, who might turn out to make Alonzo Spellman look like a stable individual, and the list could go on and on. If the teams thought they could help them win, I feel like they would be signed if there wasn’t something else to it.

And what’s the outcome if an arbitrator finds that they were colluding? Does a team have to sign them, or do they just get paid for a period of time? Reid getting involved I think will bring a lot more scrutiny to this whole situation. Kaepernick was kind of a sideshow because his play had declined to the point where Gabbert was starting ahead of him, but Reid is a legit NFL safety.

Mmmm…I wonder why the Packers who lost starting safety Morgan Burnett to the Steelers, who have Haha Clinton Dix on his fifth year team option after coming off a horrible 2017 season and a rookie, Josh Jones, who was given an F grade by local beat writer and a Poor grade by PFF as their starting safeties.

Surely, Reid would beat out either starter or at minimum provide depth.

Someone please tell me what evidence has been revealed to date to even indicate collusion. That is, that there is multi-team *coordinated effort* to keep these players unemployed. Not individual team decisions, not “group think”, not individual owners being afraid of the consequences, but a *coordinated effort* across multiple teams (if not all teams) that amounts collusion.

My goodness. It is not collusion. If I was an owner, it would take me one microsecond to make a decision on whether or not to hire either one of these guys and the hit I would take to my bottom line as well as the drama that would come with said hiring. I would not have to meet with other owners (collude) or enter into some “secret” pact…I could make that business decision simply, easily, and independently. It is a simple no brainer. They are bad for business.

In a league where there can only be 1 winner every season – team owners are competing against each other for the best talent out there.

Why would anyone think for a second that they would conspire together to ban a player (or players) who in the overall scheme of things are insignificant?

And, if an owner truly felt that one of these guys was the difference in winning a championship – you really think they would listen to a fellow owner and shortchange themselves?

Why is it so hard to believe that rational people can view the actions of individuals and come to the same conclusion without conspiring together? Why is it so hard to believe that people truly are judged based on their actions – and that if the perception is that the drama you bring is greater than your results on the field, it could have an impact on your employment options?

Sometimes people spend too much time looking for complex conspiracies when the actual answer is far more simple (and quite frankly boring)

Here’s a huge wrench in the gears of this argument….currently safeties Kenny Vaccaro, Tre Boston, TJ Ward, Tyvon Branch & Corey Graham are currently unsigned as well. Most are either rated higher or are younger than Reid. If they were all signed and Reid wasn’t, the argument would be stronger. But right now there’s easily a half dozen safeties without teams that are about the same or better/younger than Reid. He might want to wait until training camps start before suing the NFL. What’s the likelihood of the phone ringing now?!

So will Ray Rice now file a collusion lawsuit? What about Greg Hardy? What happens if Dez Bryant doesn’t get a job? Seems to me all those guys would have a case too. These two clowns are using their political stand as an excuse for not having a job. Sure, it may play a part in teams’ decisions but plenty of other kneelers were signed (Michael Bennett for one). As is the case with those individuals I listed above, when you are more trouble than your value as a player, you don’t get signed. That’s the way it goes. These guys probably should have thought about that before becoming more trouble than they are worth.

More than likely, no free agent is going to be signed until after May 12. If they are signed before then, the signing team will have it count against compensatory picks in next years draft. so everybody needs to just settle down, this is a nothing burger at the moment and stupid for Reid and his attorney to jump the gun so fast. If teams don’t sign him after May 12 then thats on him. it was his right to protest just like its an NFL’s teams right not to sign a player they don’t want to sign.

Standing for the National Anthem is for boot lickers. Wars only benefit the elite class and are paid for by the blood and tax dollars of the working class – yet somehow the working class has been brainwashed to think think this is some honorable thing they have participated in.

collectordude says:
May 2, 2018 at 11:04 am
Not another one!
Jeez. Soon every ex-pkayer will file collision charges.
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You just hit the nail on the head as to why the NFL cannot afford to allow either of these guys to set even a shred of precedent here.otherwise it sets up a legal recourse for every player who gets cut and not re-signed right away. I think its a safe bet that somewhere in the army of high priced lawyers the NFL employs someone has already raised that point and they are paying attention to it.

HeavyD says:
May 2, 2018 at 11:00 am
Mmmm…I wonder why the Packers who lost starting safety Morgan Burnett to the Steelers, who have Haha Clinton Dix on his fifth year team option after coming off a horrible 2017 season and a rookie, Josh Jones, who was given an F grade by local beat writer and a Poor grade by PFF as their starting safeties.

Surely, Reid would beat out either starter or at minimum provide depth.

Yet, here we are.

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Both Dixon and Jones may be cheaper than what Reid will be asking for. And if both Dixon and Jones are so poor, why were they on the team last year?

Safeties other than Reid not signed at this time include Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccaro. Is that evidence of collusion? I think not. It was not a great free agency period for safeties…period. Beside Reid is not as good as Boston or Vaccaro, period.

If Kaep and Reid really believe in the cause for which they claim to be protesting, why would they want to sue the league for collusion? Would they not believe their cause is important than their job? Do these guys think they are entitled to play in the NFL?

“Reid is a top flight safety.”
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Correction: Reid was a top flight safety.

The time it takes for any player in the NFL to go from “top flight” to also-ran can be measured with an egg timer. Happens every year to dozens and dozens of players. I.e. Dez Bryant, Jordy Nelson, Adrian Peterson, etc.

tinye67 says:
May 2, 2018 at 10:53 am
The NFL may have given the right to the players to protest, but that doesn’t mean a team can’t assess how that dynamic would play in their locker room or fan base. It’s akin to the typical Freedom of Speech arguments. Some believe that Freedom of Speech means you can say whatever you want without consequence; when what it means is saying what you want without fear of imprisonment from the government. So for example, the Dixie Chicks can say whatever they want without fear from reprisal from our government, but radio stations and fans can decide whether they want to support them in the wake of those words.
Same thing here. Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid can protest and say what they want without the NFL suspending or fining them, however, a particular team can decide for themselves whether they want to risk dividing their locker room or upsetting their fan base by signing them.
Not sure why this is so hard to grasp.

MF has a winning argument that the NFL has provided that its policy is that it is permissible that players not stand for the anthem. However, he does point out that the NFL has recently sent mixed signals by also allowing teams to ask during the hiring process if players do plan not to stand for the anthem, which MF rightly points out is a meaningless question if teams can’t use the answer to that question in hiring decisions. So does the NFL’s stance allow the teams to hire and fire based on anthem protests or not?

I would say it is not clear and so this issue (unfortunately) must be litigated to a pulp before there is direction one way or the other. The league did everyone involved a disservice being mealy mouthed.

The off season isn’t over. He over estimates his market value. Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccaro still aren’t signed either. I really don’t think he has a case unless there is a smoke and gun message sent to all teams not to sign him specifically. Kap’s problem is that he opted out of a contract, turned down offers from teams because he didn’t like what was being offered to him and generally insulted the entire league to the point that no team would touch him regardless of collusion or not. His bed is made and he is lying in it. Reid just needs to more patent, step back and look at his situation objectively. Or retire because he is making the same mistake that Kap did.

The players do have the right to protest but they don’t have the right to work after their contract expires or is terminated. There are only 32 clubs making decisions about their individual roster. Why would they care enough about the status of one dude to collude? They are focused on making their own teams better. High cost is a negative and so are distractions. Is Reid offering a discount to make up for the distractions?

I think the collusion is on the part of Kaepernick and Reid, as they communicated their mutual desire to protest and stood together. Now they have both filed bogus lawsuits against the NFL and are continuing that process of colluding through the legal system. They are trying to get paid while not being desirable enough players to be signed to any team – they are colluding.

See, just the accusation sounds utterly absurd, these cases need to be thrown out of the court system and these players need to be ignored.

I don’t understand why these guys are filling a collusion grievance. if an NFL team doesn’t want to give you a job, they don’t have to. No matter your beliefs about the kneeling, the fact is, it hurt the bottom line of the NFL, which in turn means, it hurt the owners. I don’t care how liberal a NFL owner is, they all love green and hate parting away with it. But when game viewership is down or politicians who help them pay for stadiums with public money start making threats, then owners will not bring in a talent player who will cost them money.

I said this on numerous post on this site, I believe it was selfish and unproductive for these guys to kneel before a game. First, the kneeling only brought attention to the individual instead of the cause and it changed nothing. As a black man who has 3 black boys, having a millionaire kneel on national TV does absolutely nothing for us. But if these guys want to actually make a difference, then work on camps that introduce young black men to work with law enforcement, encourage people in law enforcement to run sport camps that you sponsor. Educate more people of color to do volunteer work, which will in turn open more doors of opportunity. little things like that help foster a better relationship with law enforcement and minorities. Kneeling does nothing.

tinye67 says:
May 2, 2018 at 10:43 am
Would it be ok for a team to deem a player “bad for business” if they committed a crime? Was accused of domestic violence? Spouted hate speech? Aligned with a socially or politically reprehensible hate group? Etc.
I’m assuming NFL teams would be within their rights then….right?
Why is this different?

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This is about COLLUSION, not your opinion on why an individual team may or may not wnat to hire a player.

dyims says:
May 2, 2018 at 10:50 am
If I read Florio’s intention right he’s under the assumption that the NFL has the right to order any/all teams to hire whom they think the team(s) should. And that to me is wrong.

The only thing that feels coordinated is Kaep and Reid’s attack on the NFL. These guys don’t want to play. They’ve had a plan to sue all along. The Ravens wanted to bring Kaep in, then his gf posts racist tweets of the Ravens owner, stopping the planned visit. The Bengals bring Reid in after he said kneeling was behind him. The Bengals supposedly ask if he’s done kneeling and he refuses to confirm, and the visit predictably ends with no contract after his waffling.

What Kaep and Reid are doing is very calculated, and ironically I’m sure it’s part of the reason they don’t have jobs. They don’t want the jobs. They want blood from their perceived enemies.

txtroutslayer says:
May 2, 2018 at 11:21 am
More than likely, no free agent is going to be signed until after May 12. If they are signed before then, the signing team will have it count against compensatory picks in next years draft. so everybody needs to just settle down, this is a nothing burger at the moment and stupid for Reid and his attorney to jump the gun so fast. If teams don’t sign him after May 12 then thats on him. it was his right to protest just like its an NFL’s teams right not to sign a player they don’t want to sign.

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Honestly I think Geragos talked him into filing right away. You are correct about May 12 and I would expect he would have gotten a few teams looking at him after the deadline goes by but now the lawsuit will preclude that. So here Geragos manufactured his own ‘victim’ to represent…for money. Im not sure though that the lawsuit will keep teams away completely, he is unlikely to get any max contracts but could still get offered a more modest one from a team that cares about winning games and needs the player. Its possible he (with prodding from Geragos) could find ways to keep blowing up the selection process any time a team looks close to doing something (IMHO I have watched Kaepernick do this) but if he turns down a legitimate offer I dont see how a collusion case would still fly.

NFL teams have never given players a right to protest. Each team is a separate company with their own bottom line. They have a right to hire who they want. Players have been let go for less. EX. annoying wife on twitter, demanding playing time, critiquing other players, lack of chemistry, age, “might” get hurt again, demanding captains.

I am fairly certain any business can fire or refuse to hire a person if they are detrimental to the business making money. It’s not collusion or discrimination and has nothing to do with freedom of speech.

If they are willing to stay unemployed in the nfl by continuing to take a knee in protest (if hired by an nfl team)is self defeating.they dont have to take knees anymore because their message was recieved loud and clear by America.its time they returned to simply honor the flag by remaining to stand during the Anthem and end the protest as everyone already knows how they feel and what makes them so unhappy.

HeavyD says:
May 2, 2018 at 11:00 am
Mmmm…I wonder why the Packers . . .
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Sorry, fans don’t want him here even if he was good (which he is average). His hiring would turn us away from the business – thus losing money. The team isn’t in business to lose money. He can have all the opinions he wants. He just screwed up and expressed them while at work. Big mistake but as previously stated, last year he said he didn’t care if it cost him his job.

I think the fact of the matter is that this won’t end up being a case of collusion. What you have is a group of like-minded owners who have each collectively decided that they don’t want to be associated with players like this. Some teams remove players from their boards because they have made mistakes in their past and don’t want to take chances on those players. Likewise I think teams see players like this bringing unnecessary drama and don’t want it.

Goodell failed to stop protests immediately by failing to protecting their trademark. Goodell’s ‘POLITICAL CORRECTNESS’ approach back fired when the NFL ‘authorized’ protests on NFL property. Now Goodell has his plate full of problems, i.e. the Reid suit, the Kaepernick suit, the NFL HQ leaks problems, the NFL cheer leaders problem, the growing protest problem, the Chargers ‘relocation’ failure problem and on and on. The NFL has been seriously mismanaged. Jerry Jones was right.

HeavyD says:
May 2, 2018 at 11:00 am
Mmmm…I wonder why the Packers who lost starting safety Morgan Burnett to the Steelers, who have Haha Clinton Dix on his fifth year team option after coming off a horrible 2017 season and a rookie, Josh Jones, who was given an F grade by local beat writer and a Poor grade by PFF as their starting safeties.
Surely, Reid would beat out either starter or at minimum provide depth.
Yet, here we are.
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Last time I check Gb had a bigger need at CB than safety. As far as Haha Clinton Dix he may not be a A+ safety, but at least he was there for every game. Just maybe with the new D coordinator, and if one of the two CB’s that they drafted can step up he will have more of impact and a bigger role in the up coming season. And also they may not want to spend the rest of their cap on a Safety.

I think Eric Reid and Kap got spoiled playing in the Bay Area. We’re a region that encourages freedom of thought and expression.

Middle America doesn’t tolerate things like “kneeling for the anthem” like The Bay does. Especially areas like Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky.So their owners have to ensure they won’t sit for the anthem before signing them.

guyjuneguyjune says:
May 2, 2018 at 12:05 pm
Goodell failed to stop protests immediately by failing to protecting their trademark. Goodell’s ‘POLITICAL CORRECTNESS’ approach back fired when the NFL ‘authorized’ protests on NFL property. Now Goodell has his plate full of problems, i.e. the Reid suit, the Kaepernick suit, the NFL HQ leaks problems, the NFL cheer leaders problem, the growing protest problem, the Chargers ‘relocation’ failure problem and on and on. The NFL has been seriously mismanaged. Jerry Jones was right.

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Goodell is still trying to figure out why his tire pressure warnings in his Bentley came on last fall when the weather got cold. He has had Ted Wells investigating this for months and has concluded that somebody must have broken into his garage and removed some air.

This pleases me. Eric, you just sealed your fate. What’s the matter, you don’t like that others can make decisions too? You reap what you sow. Thankfully, you are a man and support your cause to the fullest. Enjoy your life away from the NFL.

The NFL seemed to colluded against Tim Tebow. Mainly on account of his media attraction and huge celebrity that they were not willing to deal with as a backup at the point when they deemed him not a starting QB. So, in short order Tim Tebow was cut and not picked up as many lesser talented QB’s have been picked up as number 2’s and number 3’s for lots of years. While it could appear as collusion, common sense says there is ZERO reason to collude. Its just many NFL teams think so much alike. If there is no meeting or agreement between all the teams to keep Kaep and Reid out, then it is NOT collusion. It is more like the Tim Tebow thing. I mean Reid was on a team just last year. But him and Kaep decided to maintain their right to protest if they wanted to. And that means as a backup, the teams just aren’t interested right now.

Section 7 of the NLRA grants the following protected right to all private-sector, non-supervisory employees:

“…to engage in… concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid and protection.”

Employers may not “interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of” the employee’s section 7 protected rights. The breadth of section 7 is truly astounding, as “mutual aid and protection” is generally read to include any employee-interested motivation, such as concerns on compensation, hours, working conditions, supervisors, and workplace policies.

The National Anthem protest doesn’t fall under any of those categories and, therefore, regardless of Goodell says, there is no “right” to protest. Likewise, if NFL teams don’t want to sign players who won’t commit to stand during the National Anthem, the sole and proximate cause of their unemployment is them, not the teams.

phinatic29 says:
May 2, 2018 at 11:22 am
Standing for the National Anthem is for boot lickers. Wars only benefit the elite class and are paid for by the blood and tax dollars of the working class – yet somehow the working class has been brainwashed to think think this is some honorable thing they have participated in.
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Although I think this is totally separate from whether teams should have these guys rostered or not, you are speaking to whether or not you respect the war itself. On that I agree with you because I dont respect the wars either. But whether to respect the people that fought in them thats a different subject, and those people I do respect and would always pay respect whenever any chance arises.

Politics aside, this is a crazy idea to me. If a hollywood actor/actress gets drunk on the set or is difficult to work with, and other directors or producers call asking questiosn about said actor/actress, and each director/producer deems they aren’t worth the trouble….and don’t hire the performer that is collusion too? Even if the NFl talks to each other about a employee, I don’t see how getting facts about a persons previous employment in any way makes a hiree wrong, if they find a potential red flag with that employee, whether that red flag is perceived by those not hiring as a red flag or not.

So the way I’m understanding this, some franchise has to fall on the sword and hire someone they deem a problem, when the talent level in the NFL is marginal in difference at best, because if they don’t, then they are somehow immoral or wrong. None of this makes sense to me.

Thetruthis says:
May 2, 2018 at 12:27 pm
The NFL seemed to colluded against Tim Tebow. Mainly on account of his media attraction and huge celebrity that they were not willing to deal with as a backup at the point when they deemed him not a starting QB. So, in short order Tim Tebow was cut and not picked up as many lesser talented QB’s have been picked up as number 2’s and number 3’s for lots of years. While it could appear as collusion, common sense says there is ZERO reason to collude. Its just many NFL teams think so much alike. If there is no meeting or agreement between all the teams to keep Kaep and Reid out, then it is NOT collusion. It is more like the Tim Tebow thing. I mean Reid was on a team just last year. But him and Kaep decided to maintain their right to protest if they wanted to. And that means as a backup, the teams just aren’t interested right now.

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‘Other lesser talented players’ is debatable. Tebow had horrible throwing ability, and there is argument for that being an important qualification for a qb role. He did have talent sure, Belichick tried to talk him into converting to a TE/RB role but he turned it down and said that if Belichick wouldn’t consider him as a qb he preferred being released. So he was. IMHO its a shame because looking at the skills he did have (fast, powerful, decent hands, a physical beast) Belichick had it right and Tebow would have excelled in those roles.

I also have wondered if Kaep had been willing to convert to a receiver (because he certainly does have good speed and hands) he might have been looking at a long fruitful career.

Every business on its own determined that it’s not good to hire a bad employee. They didn’t get together and make a group decision on that. It’s like a UPS driver doing protests while wearing the company uniform on company time. What you do on your own time in your own clothes is fine as long as it doesn’t violate the law.

This topic is sure to bring out hordes of trolls – not even going to read the comments above – but offhand I’d say he has a better case than does Kaepernick. With CK, he had a very steep drop in productivity and success, coupled with a seeming attitude that he needed to be a starter. That’s a lot of hurdles to overcome before you even get to the political stuff, of which he was the de facto leader among players.

But Reid? There wouldn’t be more than a mild hubbub from any team signing him, he’s still a solid player, most teams could use help at his position, and there’s far less risk overall in taking him on.

If I were him, I’d have at least waited ’til later – it’s more than possible that teams could have looked to him after the draft. Now, he’s just making the downsides more visible.

Honestly, I think the Bengals were waiting to see how the draft turned out; since their 2nd Round pick was a free safety, that kind of took care of their investment in the position. I do, though, think it’s at least passive collusion, in the sense that, while they owners may not have formally decided to avoid players who won’t agree to not protest during the Anthem, they have a clear, practical reason to avoid them, since their customers are telling them that they don’t like it. No owners are telling players that they can’t speak out in public or join other demonstrations, only the ones on their time at their place of business (like every other business owner in every other business). I don’t personally think they could cave to the pressure, but it’d be naive to not recognize the pressure that’s there and its monetary effect on the teams’ businesses.

Honestly, I think the Bengals were waiting to see how the draft turned out; since their 2nd Round pick was a free safety, that kind of took care of their investment in the position. I do, though, think it’s at least passive collusion, in the sense that, while they owners may not have formally decided to avoid players who won’t agree to not protest during the Anthem, they have a clear, practical reason to avoid them, since their customers are telling them that they don’t like it. No owners are telling players that they can’t speak out in public or join other demonstrations, only the ones on their time at their place of business (like every other business owner in every other business). I don’t personally think they should cave to the pressure, but it’d be naive to not recognize the pressure that’s there and its monetary effect on the teams’ businesses.

“…it’s not permissible for teams to coordinate when it comes to deciding whether to hire or not hire players. It’s not permissible for teams to coordinate as to any employment issue.”

The problem with this argument is that the draft is clearly exactly this. The draft is nothing more than 31 teams agreeing that they won’t compete for the services of a particular player, but allow only one team to sign him. If we really took collusion seriously there’d be no draft, which of course is why no other professions outside of pro sports have anything comparable.

Mmmm…I wonder why the Packers who lost starting safety Morgan Burnett to the Steelers, who have Haha Clinton Dix on his fifth year team option after coming off a horrible 2017 season and a rookie, Josh Jones, who was given an F grade by local beat writer and a Poor grade by PFF as their starting safeties.
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HHC-D was an All-Pro in 2016. His peers thought enough of him that he still cracked the NFL top 100 players list.

Jones was visibly outplaying Burnett early in 2017. No coincidence why the Packers allowed Burnett to move on. Will he be great? Or even a good starter? Who knows.

Burnett was as average as it gets. Simply never made plays, aside from playing the run well late in his tenure.

… overall, its impossible to judge players in Dom Capers atrocious “defense”. He was 5 years past his expiration date.

.. I would not be upset if the Packers signed Reid. Residents/’owners’/Packer ticket holders would likely say otherwise. There isn’t a smaller fish bowl in the NFL. Reids politics probably wouldn’t fly.

you the right to say what you want…that is a given…. everybody else in the world has a right to react and like or dislike what you say…. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. This is an important fact that seems to be lost on this entitled generation.

veretax says:
May 2, 2018 at 12:44 pm
So I’m curious, when did players give up the right to protest which they were born with and protected by the 1st Amendment?
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They never did give it up. They just cant do it while at work in front of paying clientele who don’t have the same opinions as them because it costs their boss money and business. They can do whatever they want when not earning a paycheck from their boss. And even what they do in their off time can affect their employment status.

Lawyers will be happy to take every penny he has left. Young guys have been raised as little Prince and Princesses these days, getting by with anything.
Frankly, even tho you CAN legally do something, It doesn’t mean others will like you and want to hire you!

“So I’m curious, when did players give up the right to protest which they were born with and protected by the 1st Amendment?”
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My goodness. So many just don’t understand the 1st Amendment. Let’s try this again. All Americans live under the protections of the 1st Amendment, but what it protects is the fear of reprisal or imprisonment by the government. It does NOT protect you from the consequences of your words. And it doesn’t apply to workplace situations the way you think it does. You can go to work and say whatever you want, but if those words causes a problem in the workplace you can be terminated. You won’t be imprisoned or censured by the government, but your employer can choose to remove you from employment.

Too many of Kaepernick’s and Reid’s defenders seem to think that if non-football reasons are even a part of why teams aren’t signing them, that’s collusion. And that’s just dead wrong.

Collusion has happened if and only if two or more teams (and/or a team and the League) made a secret agreement not to sign them. 32 owners individually deciding their on field skills aren’t worth the PR headache is not collusion, and Occam’s Razor strongly suggests this is what happened. Good luck finding proof otherwise.

So these “The case for collusion is getting stronger by the day!” arguments are laughably false.

Also, it would be really nice if we could drop the whole “The NFL not punishing them for it means they have the right to protest!” nonsense.

I can see both side of this issue. There is probably more to this story than what is being told. They both played for the same team and that team decided to no longer use their talents. Like any other company or organization or employer, they have aright to terminate their services. This guys have a right to and freedom to make a choice but they don’t have the say in the consequences of that choice. Good luck in court.

Lesson for the young fellas. Play a team sport? Then be a team player. You want to spout out an agenda? Try rap or an individual sport like boxing. Otherwise you answer to people who pay the bills. You wanna do your own way? Then YOU pay the bills. Universal distaste for a malcontent does not make collusion.

Way to soon. Only 7 weeks after FA opened & just a few days after draft ended… should have waited until all mini-camps summer sessions happened before going this route cause now he made himself untouchable.
Blount last year didn’t sign in Philly until May 17th (2 weeks away); that’s kind of the going time for non-high end caliber veterans. Teams aren’t even completely done with UDFA signings. His agent (and lawyer) completely jumped the gun here.

Also, it would be really nice if we could drop the whole “The NFL not punishing them for it means they have the right to protest!” nonsense.
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The NFL explicitly said protesting was okay on multiple occasions. But that is not really relevant to collusion.

Collusion is very difficult to prove, but a civil standard applies, not a criminal standard. My guess would be these guys (owners) , despite their regular displays of stupidity, are too smart to leave a trail if they did have discussions about it with each other.

kingthielenscourt says:
May 2, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Lawyers will be happy to take every penny he has left. Young guys have been raised as little Prince and Princesses these days, getting by with anything.
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Raised as “Prince and Princesses”? Are you serious? Anything but for 99% of them.

I can guarantee you neither player has paid a cent upfront nor are they obligated to play anything

I’m filing a collusion grievance as well. If only I were taller, faster, stronger the NFL would play me. That they won’t even risk it speaks to a prejudice against those under 6 ft tall. The Vertically Challenged have had enough of this NFL collusion against us!

never had a problem with people who kneeled. did i think they were foolish & misguided? absolutely but id never force them to stand if they didnt want to. just like id never ask someone to remove their cap for the anthem. as long as you’re being quiet during it, i dont care what you do.

now, they must understand that it ticked a lot of people off & their talent was not good enough to cover for them. if kam chancellor kneeled, he’d still be employed. if cam newton kneeled, he’d still be employed..you get what im saying? kaep & reid aint worth the baggage. simple as that.

Eric reid is one of the worst safety’s ever. He lost his job and was turned into a lb. He’s had many concussions. He can’t cover anyone and is always getting torched. Eric reid is a lousy diva who can’t play anymore because of his lousy “skills” and he’s injury prone. He’s one concussion away from being braindead.

I guess Reid finally decided football is too hard, and he never wants to play another down as long as he lives. Because that’s his new reality. Now he’s not just a PR risk, he’s a legal disaster area. Bye bye.

He leaked details of a private conversation he had with a potential employer and in the process made said employer look bad.

So is it a surprise nobody wants to talk to him now? Would you want to talk to someone you have to worry is going to blab details of your conversation to the media if there is something he doesn’t like about the conversation?

Judging by the thumbs up/down, I’d say it’s we the fans that are colluding. We are the ones saying we don’t want you on our teams, we won’t support our teams hiring of you, we don’t want that in our sport. The owners are just providing the best product they can based on the consumer opinions. We don’t like the taste of that food, so stop serving it. HTTR

Does Reid and his agent really think that the teams all had a meeting to discuss and not sign a nobody like him? The billionaire owners have so many better things to do than deal with one player like Reid. If Reid was any good, the 49s, the team in the most liberal city in the country would have kept him – but the 49s chose to let him walk as a free agent. Reid is delusional.

nyyankeehatespoliticos says:
May 2, 2018 at 3:33 pm
Does Reid and his agent really think that the teams all had a meeting to discuss and not sign a nobody like him? The billionaire owners have so many better things to do than deal with one player like Reid. If Reid was any good, the 49s, the team in the most liberal city in the country would have kept him – but the 49s chose to let him walk as a free agent. Reid is delusional.

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Reid is plenty good. The 49ers did not keep him because they had another drafted safety play even better at SS last year, and Reid does not fit FS in their new scheme.

Hate on him if you want. And he certainly will have a tough time proving collusion.

But this case is way clearer than Kaepernick. If Reid had never protested, he would have been signed by now. He would upgrade the position for more than half the teams in the league.

Reid is just a lazy POS that cant handle the consequences of his actions. Kap does not want to play football he would rather try to be an activist. Reid was offered something with 9ers he turned down then blew shot with Bengals. Kap opted out of his …. turned down broncos because he wanted more money . Then sabotaged any chance he got.

“I have a company car and I am not allowed to put any bumper stickers of any kind on the car. My freedom of speech is not being violated becaue I want my job and must abide by the rules set forth by my employer. If I don’t like it I can find another job.”

Geragos is gonna have a field day with these owners. The one clear thing is they cant seem to keep their mouths shut about anything. Lurie, Ross, and McNair have proven this fact. I cant imagine what nonsense they will find if and when they get the phone and email records.

The only problem with Reid is he pulled the trigger too fast so his case goes out the window and he gets the Blackball for being stupid.

Man Reid is just a Johnny come lately huh? Does whatever he’s bff Kaep does. When keeping it real goes wrong. It’s then way if the USA, the golden rule. As much as CNN wants you to believe they care, you are merely a small story in their news cycle. Once this story does down and it hasn’t considerably, you will be left standing alone with no money, no support. No attention. The media meat grinder just chewed you up and spit you out and so didn’t the liberal left. It’s sad to see all I feel the money that could’ve been earned just go down the toilet because you coulsbt stay in your lane and just do your job. I almost feel sorry for you….almost.

The NFL said there was no league policy against protesting during the national anthem. That doesn’t mean individual teams or owners can’t have such a policy for their team and avoid signing players who won’t adhere to it.

Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccarro are both good safeties that haven’t been signed, you don’t hear them whining about it and blaming their lack of employment on others. Here’s a thought, if you want a job, then agree to abide by the employers rules. Welcome to the rest of the work force. I hope they lose their case and never play again. Sickening to blame others for the hole you dug for yourself.

So let me get this straight. Two guys who are currently not employed in the NFL, and both of whom have had team(s) show interest in them are trying to sue to league and depose the owners/gm’s/etc of the teams that showed interest in them? Insane.

What effect will this have?

It puts every team on notice that if you show ANY interest in any controversial player and decide not to sign them, you will be subjected to a legal process to pick through you and find out WHY you decided not to sign some player as part of a witch hunt. Which means they’ll want all your records, telephone calls, and access to people in the organization.

What’s the effect of that?

Don’t even bother inquiring if you don’t want a legal headache.

In essence, these guys are just making it worse.

Ask Ravens owner Bisciotti how he feels that Kaepernick’s girlfriend showcased a picture from Django Unchained of DiCaprio and Samuel L Jackson and then another one of Bisciotti and Ray Lewis.

The bottom line is… players who want to get hired by an NFL club, shouldn’t be putting the screws to all the teams showing interest.

There is no collusion for what happens next, it’s common sense. Don’t touch them.

The NFL seemed to colluded against Tim Tebow. Mainly on account of his media attraction and huge celebrity that they were not willing to deal with as a backup at the point when they deemed him not a starting QB. So, in short order Tim Tebow was cut and not picked up as many lesser talented QB’s have been picked up as number 2’s and number 3’s for lots of years. While it could appear as collusion, common sense says there is ZERO reason to collude. Its just many NFL teams think so much alike. If there is no meeting or agreement between all the teams to keep Kaep and Reid out, then it is NOT collusion. It is more like the Tim Tebow thing. I mean Reid was on a team just last year. But him and Kaep decided to maintain their right to protest if they wanted to. And that means as a backup, the teams just aren’t interested right now.
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So true. Tebow was pushed out of the league even though he was a viable QB because owners felt threatened by the fact he was so popular with fans. They didn’t want the “distraction” of fans demanding he play. So they just ignored him until he went away. What did Tebow do? He decided to try to become a professional baseball player. That is how you deal with rejection. You don’t cry, whine and sue because owners don’t want to pay you to be a nuisance. I feel bad for Justin Reid, he slid to the 3rd round because his brother is selfish , entitled boy.

youngnoizecom says:
May 2, 2018 at 10:45 am
Ya, he’s really good actually. Played well when he wasn’t injured last season and is young. The safety market is kind of intriguing right now, but he has a case since he’s been asked so many questions about kneeling by teams.

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Sigh. He was the 4th best safety on the 49ers last year. He has poor ball awareness and anticipation as a safety in zone, especially deep zone. If a QB doesn’t throw it to him while under pass-rush duress, he’s unlikely to make a positive play. We’e seen him burned time-and-time-and-time again as he failed to cover his half of the field in Cover 2.

He can’t cover man TEs or Backs. His technique is terrible and he’s stiff, lacking a good turn and lateral acceleration. Good TEs run amok when he covers them.

That’s why he lost his job to Tartt who can do both of these things.

He is good at run-defense if he’s backed off the LOS by about 4-to-5 yards then he can use his speed to avoid the trash. However, he can’t get through trash so he can’t run-support on the LOS.

He’s generally a good tackler, but makes at least one or two bad attempts a game as he tends to go for the hard-hit and can miss some open field tackles.

dfbarnhart says:
May 2, 2018 at 1:14 pm
I can see both side of this issue. There is probably more to this story than what is being told….

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I doubt it. I think it’s fairly simple.

In 2016 Kaepernick demanded a trade because he hated the GM of the 49ers and was blaming the team for his decline into mediocrity. The Broncos were willing to trade for him at $7 million a year (quality back-up). No other takers. Kaepernick refused to re-negotiate so the deal fell through.

In 2016 he could not beat-out Blaine Gabbert for the starting QB role. Eventually Gabbert, an inaccurate turn-over machine played himself out of the job. Kaepernick put up stats slightly poorer in 3 of the 4 rating categories than Mark Sanchez who’d run that offense before.

In short, he couldn’t beat out Gabbert or out-play Mark Sanchez in the most QB friendly dink-and-dunk offense in the NFL.

In 2017 Kaepernick voided his contract to look for greener pastures. The Seahawks, who had MULTIPLE KNEELERS took a look at him for back-up but passed. The Ravens were going to sign him but his GF attacked the owner and Ray Lewis so the Ravens (the iconic Raven and fan favorite) backed off.

As for Reid, he lost his job. Tartt simply out-played him at SS and the upgrade was dramatic. Colbert, the 7th rounder CB conversion to FS also out-played him. Even Jimmie Ward out-played him and Ward is not likely to be resigned by the 49ers when his contract expires.

The fact is he was a poor starter and eventual #4 safety on a team with a poor pass-defense since 2014. In short, he was part of the problem and not the solution. He wasn’t out there making great, or even good, plays on a regular basis to take up the slack. Rather, he wasn’t defensing many passes or getting many picks.

The 49ers did offer him a back-up, one-year deal. He refused it. Now the 49ers have drafted two new safeties. So there is no more room on the 49ers for Ried.

I think John Lynch said it best in regards for different standards for different players:

“So, I think we spoke pretty strongly on that, but yea, there is some level of that, Tom, and that’s just common sense. I mean, when you’ve got a late round guy and he’s causing problems, you probably aren’t going to have much tolerance on him. We try to have a consistent standard, but of course, talent kind of dictates some level of that. That’s not to say that it’s gonna make certain things OK — because a guy’s extremely talented — but you do have a little more rope with a guy like that.”

In short, if you’re marginal, you have little room for being a distraction. If you’re good, like many other protesters that were signed/resigned, you have more rope.

49ersfury says:
May 2, 2018 at 12:20 pm
I think Eric Reid and Kap got spoiled playing in the Bay Area. We’re a region that encourages freedom of thought and expression.

Middle America doesn’t tolerate things like “kneeling for the anthem” like The Bay does. Especially areas like Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky.So their owners have to ensure they won’t sit for the anthem before signing them.
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When the rest of the country sees how the Bay Area treats people with ideas that differ from their own a lot of things come to mind. Freedom of thought and expression isn’t one of them.

When the rest of the country sees how the Bay Area treats people with ideas that differ from their own a lot of things come to mind. Freedom of thought and expression isn’t one of them.
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So what is to stop anyone else from pulling the race card when they don’t get what they want, even thought they prove to be bad for business? If I’m bad for business and I don’t get hired, based on my actions and ideologies, not the way I was born, is anyone going to run to court and get me my megabucks? The guy could have his opinions and express them on his own time, like the rest of us, but he got emotional and he got full of himself, thinking he is above the rest of us because he has always been a star athlete, and received special treatment. Why not now???

Liberalsruineverything says:
May 3, 2018 at 12:00 pm
49ersfury says:
May 2, 2018 at 12:20 pm
I think Eric Reid and Kap got spoiled playing in the Bay Area. We’re a region that encourages freedom of thought and expression.

Middle America doesn’t tolerate things like “kneeling for the anthem” like The Bay does. Especially areas like Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky.So their owners have to ensure they won’t sit for the anthem before signing them.
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When the rest of the country sees how the Bay Area treats people with ideas that differ from their own a lot of things come to mind. Freedom of thought and expression isn’t one of them.

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However, kneeling for the anthem is on that Bay Area list of how to express proper, approved thought and expression…